Anyone Interested In How Members Of Congress Voted On Ending The War Against Afghanistan?

For those who keep track of this sort of detail, Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced an amendment yesterday to end the occupation of Afghanistan. Cosponsored by John Conyers (D-MI), Walter Jones (R-NC), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Lee's amendment would have ended the war in Afghanistan "by limiting funding to the safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops and military contractors from Afghanistan." It failed 113-303. Most Democrats-- 101 of them-- voted YES, to end the pointless occupation. They were joined by 12 Republicans. But 79 Democrats crossed the aisle to voted with Boehner and Cantor. Any interest in knowing which side your congresscritter was on? All the names are listed on the link above. A few highlights though: generally speaking Blue Dogs were pro-war and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus were anti-war. And the Democratic House leaders... mostly pro-war. Let's look at some names worth remembering-- first candidates for higher office:

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) are running for Senate and they voted to end the occupation. New Dems Shelley Berkley (NV) and Martin Heinrich (NM) and Blue Dog Joe Donnelly (IN) voted for more war.

Karen Bass (D-CA), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Bruce Braley (D-IA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), John Larson (D-CT) and Jared Polis (D-CO) are either being groomed for Democratic leadership or are already junior leaders and they all voted to end the occupation. The top House leaders though, Clyburn, Hoyer, Israel, and even Pelosi, all voted for more war, as did wannabes Ron Kind (WI), Allyson Schwartz (PA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) "wisely" avoided voting at all.

In contested up-coming primaries pitting Democrats against each other, Berman and Sherman, both vicious warmongers, each voted for more war. But in Michigan, progressive Hansen Clarke voted to end the war and conservative Gary Peters voted to extend it. Worth taking note. Also worth remembering, conservative pro-war Blue Dog Adam Schiff who was recently imposed on the uber-progressive areas of West Hollywood, Los Feliz, Hollywood, Atwater and Silverlake voted to continue the war and occupation. A notorious neo-con, he's FAR too conservative for the district and needs to be replaced in 2014. Perfect district for Dennis Kucinich.


UPDATE: One More Failed Amendment

Nancy reminded me of this one with this tweet:


As you can see, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats (19 from each team) crossed the aisle-- the Republicans to join Nancy and 163 Democrats in standing up for the Constitution, the mostly Blue Dog Dems to join Boehner and Cantor in shitting on the same document. The Democrats who showed once again that they haven't earned the right to represent the party of working families are:

John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)
feisty, principled contrarian Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)
Sandy Levin (D-MI)
Lipinski Jr. (Blue Dog-lite-IL)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Bill Owens (Blue Dog-lite-NY)
Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Dutch Ruppersberger (Blue Dog-lite-MD)
Terri Sewell (Blue Dog-lite-AL)

And, keep in mind, when the DCCC solicits money from you, basically all of it that doesn't go for feathering the nests of the employees and their cronies goes to support corrupt, conservatives like the kewl dudes on the list above-- and the putrid recruits who are even worse than these who have been dug up by "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel. Every time you get a plea from the DCCC, just give a contribution directly to a candidate you already know can be trusted-- like Alan Grayson or Carol Shea-Porter... or anyone on this list.